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This study is based on a piece of ethnographic research in a shopping mall situated in north-east France. It is aimed at emphasizing that daily life inside malls cannot be reduced to the mercantile behaviors and perceptions that dictate the official purposes of such economic institutions. In fact, this research reveals the existence of a “small world” composed of retired low-income elderly people who transform this economic space into a socializing place. As a result, this article unveils the social organization of this “small world” and interpersonal bonds giving meaning to such gift-based relations.

Keywords

  • Shopping center
  • Public space
  • Sociability
  • Space diversion
  • Gift
Thibaut Besozzi
Hervé Marchal
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